The Myanmar junta carried out an airstrike over an event organised by its opponents on Tuesday, reportedly killing 100 people, including children, and injuring at least 50.
Overview
According to an unnamed eyewitness, around 150 people had gathered for the opening ceremony of a local office of the country’s opposition movement in the Kanbalu township. A fighter jet first dropped bombs directly over this crowd, and almost half an hour later, a helicopter appeared and also fired at the site, he said.
At least 50 people were killed in a junta air raid on Pazigyi Village in Sagaing’s Kantbalu Township on Tuesday. Junta aircraft dropped two bombs and strafed the village as 100 people attended the opening of a People’s Authority Office, residents said. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/C48u3qC4kW
— The Irrawaddy (Eng) (@IrrawaddyNews) April 11, 2023
Although restricted reporting from the country has made it difficult to ascertain the exact death toll from the incident, the eyewitness claimed that fatalities included between 20 to 30 women and children.
Military Confirms Attack
The news was confirmed by military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun late on Tuesday, but he did not confirm the death toll. “There was [a People’s Defence Force] office opening ceremony … [on Tuesday] morning about 8am at Pazi Gyi village…We attacked that place,” he said, referring to the armed anti-junta groups that have come up in the country since the February 2021 coup.
Min Tun further conceded that while some of the dead were anti-coup fighters in uniform, “there could be some people with civilian clothes.”
Today at around 7:30 am, while about 800 local residents were discussing the welfare of the people, a Mi35 helicopter dropped two bombs and fired more than 200 rounds of machine guns.
— Ro Nay San Lwin (@nslwin) April 11, 2023
UN Condemns Attack
UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the airstrike and called for “those responsible to be held accountable.”
“The Secretary-General condemns all forms of violence and reaffirms the primacy of protection of civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
The Myanmar military’s attacks against innocent people, including today’s airstrike in Sagaing, is enabled by world indifference and those supplying them with weapons. How many Myanmar children need to die before world leaders take strong, coordinated action to stop this carnage?
— UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews (@RapporteurUn) April 11, 2023
Similarly, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said he was “horrified” by the reports. “Despite clear legal obligations for the military to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities, there has been blatant disregard for the related rules of international law,” he said.
The UN chief also called on all parties “to take all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population that is under their control from the effects of attacks, including by avoiding locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas.”